Many conventional wiper blade assemblies consist of a top part and a wiper lip that is attached to the top part via a tiltable ridge. The top part is provided with a longitudinal groove on both sides, with elastic rails being laterally inserted into both longitudinal grooves. These elastic rails are secured from longitudinal displacement relative to the wiper blade assembly by means of holding elements. A rib on the wiper blade assembly which laterally engages into a corresponding notch in the elastic rail usually serves as the holding element. The elastic rails are prevented from laterally falling out of the longitudinal groove by means of claws that form part of the wiper blade frame and accommodate the wiper blade assembly.
Since the replacement of such wiper blade assemblies is quite complicated, DE-OS 3827875 proposes equipping the wiper blade replacement assembly with the required elastic rails and preventing said elastic rails from laterally falling out by means of at least one retaining clip. This retaining clip surrounds the top part of the wiper blade assembly as well as the elastic rails arranged in the longitudinal grooves. Here, the retaining clip(s) is/are only fixed to the top part of the wiper blade assembly with a relatively low clamping force. The unit so constructed is longitudinally inserted into the claws of the wiper blade frame, with the claws of the wiper blade frame engaging into guide grooves arranged in the sides of the top part of the wiper blade assembly. When inserting this unit, the retaining clips are held by the first claw of the wiper blade frame and subsequently displaced along the wiper blade assembly. Once the wiper blade assembly reaches its final position, the retaining clips fall off the top part of the wiper blade assembly. In order to prevent the wiper blade assembly from sliding out of the wiper blade frame, the wiper blade assembly is fixed to the wiper blade frame on the end that is situated opposite to the end that was initially inserted into the claws of the wiper blade frame. For this purpose, the end claws of the wiper blade frame snap into a recess arranged within the region of the guide groove after they pass over an inclined surface. Consequently, the end claw positively engages into the recesses with slight play, thereby securing the wiper blade assembly in the longitudinal direction.
When removing a worn wiper blade assembly from the wiper blade frame, it is necessary to widen the end claw that engages into the recesses by a certain amount. In order to ensure that this end claw properly engages into the recesses once a new wiper blade assembly has been inserted, it is necessary to press this end claw together again. Such permanent deformations cannot be repeated as often as desired without causing damage, particularly to the paint coating within this region. If only one retaining clip is used, it was determined that the elastic rails are still able to fall out of the longitudinal grooves at locations that are situated at a distance from the retaining clip due to the elasticity of the wiper blade assemblies and the elastic rails.
The present invention is based on the objective of additionally developing a wiper blade replacement assembly of the initially mentioned type in such a way that a simple and secure handling of the replacement assembly is ensured and damage is largely prevented.